Joanna parents lay floral tribute

Monday 27 December 2010 04:31 BST

Joanna Yeates went missing on December 17

The distraught parents of Joanna Yeates have visited the site where their daughter's body was discovered.

David, 63, and Theresa Yeates, 58, laid a bouquet of yellow roses with a picture of their daughter on her graduation at the scene and embraced as they wiped away tears. Mr Yeates kissed his wife's hand as she wept.

The pair spent a moment alone at the scene before being joined by others including their son Chris and Miss Yeates' boyfriend Greg Reardon. Mr Reardon, 27, left a bunch of red and yellow flowers.

The results of a post mortem examination are due on Tuesday after being delayed because of the frozen condition of Miss Yeates' body.

However, the 25-year-old landscape architect has been formally identified by her family.

Meanwhile, detectives are to examine CCTV from one of Britain's most famous landmarks. Officers will look at footage from Clifton suspension bridge in Bristol, on the main route from Miss Yeates' house to where she was found on Christmas Day.

Miss Yeates, from Clifton, Bristol, had not been seen since December 17 when CCTV showed her in a Tesco store on her way home to her flat in Canynge Road.

A couple walking their dogs on Christmas morning found her body as they walked along Longwood Lane, close to Bristol and Clifton Golf Club, in Failand, North Somerset - about three miles from where the graduate lived. The Avon Fire Service helped police remove the corpse, which was clothed and covered in snow, from the scene in order to preserve the site for a thorough forensic examination.

Chief Superintendent Jon Stratford said: "Our heartfelt condolences go out to Joanna's family for their loss. We have not stopped working hard throughout the Christmas period to find their daughter after she was reported missing.

"Now we will work just as hard to discover exactly what happened to her and how she came to be in Longwood Lane on Christmas morning. Until the post-mortem examination is able to firmly establish how Joanna died, we are keeping an open mind about the cause of her death."